368 | CCPT Gamechangers: The Hidden Problem with Battery-Operated Toys

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You're listening to the Play Therapy Podcast with Dr.

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Brenna Hicks,

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your source for centered and focused play therapy coaching.

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Hi,

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I'm Dr. Brenna Hicks,

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The Kid Counselor.

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This is the Play Therapy Podcast where you get

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a master class in child-centered play therapy

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and practical support and application for your

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work with children and their families.

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In today's episode,

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we are continuing the Game Changer series,

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and we are going to talk about

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toys in the playroom.

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But more specifically,

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toys that can hold batteries

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and how we handle

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battery-driven toys,

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what is adherent to the model,

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what we need to consider,

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and how to ensure that we're not having anything

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in the playroom that's going to be a distraction

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or an impediment to the child's work.

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However,

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before we dive in,

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I'm back from the cruise

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and we had a lovely time.

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Really,

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really relaxing,

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enjoyable,

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beautiful weather.

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So glad to be back.

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And

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we are settling in on all of the final details for the event.

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If you have been thinking about

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joining us,

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you can join virtually

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for a live webinar.

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You can join in person in Tampa,

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or you can

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do an on-demand version once the event is completed.

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I don't think that's the,

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the ideal scenario.

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I think if you want to come and you want the content,

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I think even if you can't make it to Tampa,

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it would be helpful to do the webinar.

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But we are finalizing the menu and we're finalizing the swag,

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and there's an option to hang out with me on Friday night for a VIP event.

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So,

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if you've been thinking about it,

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now is the time.

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We have some promos going and the prices at the door obviously will be

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more than if you do it in advance.

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So please take advantage of that.

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We would love to have you there.

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This is going to be a really,

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really fun,

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exciting event,

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and we're going to make it an annual thing.

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So,

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we are really looking forward to having an event in Tampa each year,

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and this is the inaugural one,

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and I'm just really looking forward to it and thinking it's gonna be so much fun.

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So,

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please check out the link in the show notes

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and you'll be able to get all the details and the information.

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We would love to have you there.

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For those of you that have already registered,

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we are going to be sending out all kinds of information to you.

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So stand by.

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We have a packet that we've assembled,

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etc.

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etc.

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So,

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really excited about that,

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and I would love to meet you in person and see your faces and give you a hug.

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So come hang out with me.

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And it's January in Florida,

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so there's another

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alluring piece of the whole thing.

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Someone emailed me a while back and was like,

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are you still thinking about doing,

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before we announce the event,

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are you still thinking about doing something in Tampa?

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It is really cold up here.

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I need something to look forward to.

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So,

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yes,

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it's not cold in Florida.

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Come hang out and enjoy the sun and the beach and the warmth.

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OK,

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so let's talk about batteries in

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toys in the playroom.

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So,

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Generally,

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as you look at the recommended list of toys.

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They are,

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we always talk about it,

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toys are selected,

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not collected.

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So there's intention and thought behind every toy that goes into the playroom.

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We don't just aggregate a whole bunch of toys.

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We are very intentional.

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They need to fall under one of the three categories of toys,

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and they need to,

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as much as possible,

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be a very

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old school,

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creative

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driven toy.

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In other words,

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they are simple.

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They are basic.

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And they dot don't have a lot of technology and fluff.

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So

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a baby doll is a baby doll.

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It's not one that you pour water down its mouth and it pees itself into the diaper.

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I forget what that baby was called,

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but that even when I was a kid,

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I thought that was the strangest thing.

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Like,

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who wants to have a doll pee and you have to change the diaper?

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I,

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whatever.

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I'm sure some of you were going to message me or email me or whatever and be like,

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I had one of those and I loved it.

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OK,

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fine.

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But

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I always found it bizarre.

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That's not

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just an original,

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easy,

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simple baby doll.

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That's a baby doll that does something.

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We don't want baby dolls that cry.

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We don't want baby dolls that play music.

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We're trying to go for very basic,

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simple toys.

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Why?

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Because the goal of every toy in the playroom.

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Is that it can be what that child in that moment

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needs it to be.

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We don't want it to be prescriptive.

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We don't want it to lead the child in any way.

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We don't want the child to feel compelled to play with it

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a certain way because of how it's structured to be played with.

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The simpler the better,

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the easier to play with,

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the better.

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We don't want anything that's going to get in the way

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of what the child is doing,

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and we don't want them to feel swayed

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to use it in a specific way.

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So that's one of the considerations.

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The second is

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we always have to think about.

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The simplicity and the ease

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for the child.

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So not only do they get to decide how to play with it and what they want to do with it,

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but it's also the ease and simplicity.

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The more electronics something has,

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the more buttons,

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the more lights,

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the more battery-driven things,

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the toy becomes complicated.

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A Hotwheels car.

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You just drive the car.

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There's no other option for it.

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But the more that's added to a car,

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now all of a sudden it becomes a little less easy

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for a child to just pick it up and use it.

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So,

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two basic considerations for why we want toys to be simple,

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but there are certain things

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that

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have been made in

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toy sections of stores.

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That the batteries serve a function.

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And it would be appropriate for the toy.

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So,

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let me give you some examples.

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I think this will make it a little easier to understand where I'm going with this.

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I was watching a play session not too long ago,

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and

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a little girl picked up

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what looked to me like a small guitar.

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And musical instruments are an integral piece

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of the playroom.

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So

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I was like,

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Oh,

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how cool.

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There's a tiny guitar in there.

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That's fun.

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As soon as she,

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and

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I mean,

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I suppose technically it might have been a ukulele,

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but watching it,

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my first thought was it was a small guitar.

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And then she picked it up and as soon as she strummed the strings,

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it started singing some Moana song.

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And it surprised the child,

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and it was loud

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and it was a long song.

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And

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it

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was just totally disruptive

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of the whole moment.

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She wanted to play the guitar.

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And

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I don't know who was singing,

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Maui or Moana or somebody,

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maybe both of them.

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I don't know.

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But all of a sudden now there's this Moana song blasting into the room.

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And as soon as the song ended,

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she just put the guitar down and walked away.

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And I couldn't help but think to myself,

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what would have happened if she just would have strummed that guitar.

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And nothing would have happened

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except the sound of her strumming the strings.

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It got in the way

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of what she might have done.

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We won't know now because she put it down.

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A guitar should just be a guitar.

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There are things that should just be used in the way

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that they're meant to be used with no added stuff.

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I had a

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session that I watched where there was a teapot.

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And as soon as you tip the teapot,

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it talks to you.

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It was like,

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123,

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drink tea with me or something.

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And I was like,

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oh my gosh,

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these are the things that we either do not put in the playroom at all

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or we put them in without batteries.

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There should never be things

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that are going to be prescriptive.

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Swords that when you swing them,

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it makes a

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slicing through the air,

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metal clinking sword fighting sound.

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It gets in the way

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Anything that is technologically driven,

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it doesn't need to be there.

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Now,

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there are a few.

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That are appropriate.

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For example,

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if you have rescue vehicles.

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So you have a fire truck,

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a police car,

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an ambulance.

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If those have the capacity to have lights and sirens,

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that would be a toy that would be appropriate to have batteries in.

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You don't have to have batteries in it.

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They can use it with no lights and no sirens,

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and it will still be appropriate in the playroom.

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But if all it does

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is lights and sirens,

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that makes sense

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for what that is used for in the real world.

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A child understands that when they see a fire truck going by,

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there's a siren and lights.

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There are kitchen sets

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where if you turn it on,

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I'm air quoting,

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turn it on,

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if you push the button to turn it on,

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the burners glow red.

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It's almost like a flat top kitchen where you have like two burners,

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and if you push the button,

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it glows red.

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It doesn't get hot,

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but it glows red like it's on.

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That is appropriate because that is what would happen if

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a child were going to cook in the real world.

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The burner would glow red if it's a flat top cook surface.

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Those are appropriate things to have in the playroom

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because they don't distract

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from the child's storyline.

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And the child could choose not to use the lights and sirens,

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or they could choose not to use the red glowing burner,

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00:09:33,919 --> 00:09:35,039
and it doesn't get in the way,

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but if they do,

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it's because they want it,

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because it's real life.

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00:09:39,619 --> 00:09:42,729
So a lot of times we will have superhero characters,

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figures.

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That say things,

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light up,

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00:09:46,179 --> 00:09:46,960
do things,

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it's distracting.

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So we're always trying to be mindful when we get a toy,

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00:09:53,369 --> 00:09:54,950
we're thinking about.

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00:09:56,030 --> 00:09:57,900
Does this fall under one of the three categories?

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Am I selecting this intentionally because I need to fill a gap

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00:10:03,070 --> 00:10:03,989
in my collection?

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00:10:05,289 --> 00:10:07,780
And is this simple and easy for a child to use,

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00:10:07,849 --> 00:10:09,729
and can the child do with it what they need

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to do with no prescriptive or directive nature to it

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00:10:13,289 --> 00:10:14,890
if it contains batteries.

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Question whether or not the batteries serve a purpose

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00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:21,719
where it would be appropriate to keep them in.

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00:10:23,309 --> 00:10:29,450
If it's going to lead or guide or push the child in any way of how to use that toy.

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00:10:30,260 --> 00:10:31,349
Take the batteries out

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00:10:31,809 --> 00:10:33,809
and even when you remove batteries,

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there will still be the buttons,

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00:10:36,090 --> 00:10:38,280
so kids will inevitably find the toy,

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00:10:38,369 --> 00:10:38,809
pick it up,

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00:10:38,929 --> 00:10:39,869
push the button,

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00:10:40,049 --> 00:10:40,429
and go,

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00:10:40,729 --> 00:10:41,650
why isn't this working?

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00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:43,539
Or

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00:10:44,359 --> 00:10:46,119
there must be dead batteries in here.

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00:10:46,239 --> 00:10:47,780
Can you put new batteries in here?

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00:10:48,710 --> 00:10:49,729
They're wired

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00:10:49,869 --> 00:10:53,650
to push and explore and see what things are supposed to do.

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So when you have toys

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00:10:56,070 --> 00:10:56,580
that

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00:10:56,830 --> 00:10:58,219
you've taken the batteries out of,

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00:10:58,390 --> 00:10:59,950
kids are going to lament

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00:11:00,190 --> 00:11:01,330
that they don't work

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00:11:01,590 --> 00:11:04,369
and that the batteries are dead and you need to replace the batteries.

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00:11:05,090 --> 00:11:06,919
And you're just going to say something like,

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00:11:07,169 --> 00:11:07,330
oh,

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00:11:07,409 --> 00:11:09,250
you think maybe nothing's happening when you push

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00:11:09,250 --> 00:11:11,609
the button because there's no batteries in there.

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00:11:13,619 --> 00:11:14,150
And

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00:11:14,429 --> 00:11:15,130
we move on.

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00:11:16,049 --> 00:11:19,760
And then the child will use it the way that they creatively,

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00:11:19,969 --> 00:11:21,150
imaginatively.

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00:11:22,020 --> 00:11:23,919
Clinically need to use it

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00:11:24,500 --> 00:11:25,080
versus

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00:11:25,460 --> 00:11:26,789
what does this button do?

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00:11:27,299 --> 00:11:27,559
Oh,

340
00:11:27,619 --> 00:11:30,159
it makes a 15 minute

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00:11:30,619 --> 00:11:33,059
song and now I can have a dance party.

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00:11:33,179 --> 00:11:33,340
Well,

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00:11:33,460 --> 00:11:35,119
they wouldn't have had a dance party

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00:11:35,659 --> 00:11:36,000
if

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00:11:36,500 --> 00:11:38,919
there wouldn't have been a button to push that then played music.

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00:11:40,510 --> 00:11:43,809
So be very cautious with having things in your playroom

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00:11:44,270 --> 00:11:45,409
that are battery-driven.

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00:11:45,909 --> 00:11:47,440
They can serve a purpose,

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00:11:47,950 --> 00:11:50,130
but you want it to be very intentional.

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00:11:51,500 --> 00:11:52,989
If you have a walkie talkie set,

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00:11:53,070 --> 00:11:55,630
which I highly recommend you have a walkie-talkie set in your playroom,

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00:11:55,669 --> 00:11:56,059
by the way,

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00:11:56,349 --> 00:11:58,010
if you have a walkie-talkie set.

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00:11:59,119 --> 00:12:01,599
That is an appropriate toy to have batteries in,

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00:12:02,059 --> 00:12:03,880
because then the walkie-talkies work

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00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:06,359
and they serve the purpose that they're supposed

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00:12:06,479 --> 00:12:07,359
to have,

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00:12:07,940 --> 00:12:09,340
which is you talk to each other.

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00:12:09,530 --> 00:12:10,799
And when you're in a playroom,

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00:12:11,140 --> 00:12:12,119
it's kind of like

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00:12:12,299 --> 00:12:14,859
you can hear each other whether you use the walkie-talkie or not.

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00:12:14,979 --> 00:12:16,780
So it's kind of funny because a kid's like,

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00:12:16,859 --> 00:12:17,400
go over there,

364
00:12:17,729 --> 00:12:19,419
and then they're talking to you on the walkie-talkie,

365
00:12:19,460 --> 00:12:20,789
but you can hear them in the playroom.

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00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:24,229
But that's a functional battery-driven toy.

367
00:12:25,580 --> 00:12:27,619
So there are things that make sense and there are

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00:12:27,619 --> 00:12:29,900
things that we should caution against and guard against,

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00:12:30,140 --> 00:12:30,640
and

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00:12:30,940 --> 00:12:32,400
my argument is

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00:12:32,780 --> 00:12:35,840
have toys in there that don't use batteries at all,

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00:12:36,580 --> 00:12:38,280
but if you have toys

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00:12:38,539 --> 00:12:39,000
that

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00:12:39,260 --> 00:12:40,570
can use batteries,

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00:12:40,900 --> 00:12:42,900
make a judgment call on whether or not

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00:12:43,179 --> 00:12:44,640
there should be batteries in there

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00:12:44,929 --> 00:12:45,979
before you put it in the playroom.

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00:12:47,030 --> 00:12:47,260
All right,

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00:12:47,309 --> 00:12:48,219
I hope that's helpful.

380
00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:51,090
I hope that the Game Changer series is continuing to

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00:12:51,429 --> 00:12:55,010
polish and refine your time in the playroom

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00:12:55,309 --> 00:12:58,450
and how to make you more efficient and effective as CCPT.

383
00:12:58,789 --> 00:12:59,590
I love you all so much.

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00:12:59,710 --> 00:13:00,190
Have a great week.

385
00:13:00,270 --> 00:13:01,219
We'll talk again soon.

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00:13:01,390 --> 00:13:01,669
Bye.

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00:13:02,710 --> 00:13:06,500
Thank you for listening to the Play Therapy Podcast with Dr. Brenna Hicks.

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For more episodes and resources,

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please go to www.playtherapypodcast.com.